Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Salmon Coulibiac & Griddled Eggplant - Stunningly Simple

I admit it...I'm a cookbook and food magazine junkie. I'm running out of space on my bookshelves and will definitely have to take some time to do some sorting (notice I couldn't say disgarding). I love sitting with books and magazines scattered around, flipping through pages and dog-earring (I'm sure I just made that word up) pages with recipes that really catch my fancy.

That said, I also love to visit other food bloggers and other food sites on the web for inspiration.

Last week I found these two amazing sounding recipes - Griddled Eggplant Roll-ups at Vicious Ange (who has lots of great recipes) and

Salmon Coulibiac on The Toronto Star's web site. They both sounded delicious but what I didn't realize until I made them both last night was just how easy they were to prepare and how impressive to present. Dinner was done in under an hour and that included the 20 minutes or so chilling time for the salmon.

So with holidays fast upon us, I thought I'd share these two dishes. They're perfect for a sit down dinner or as part of a buffet and I promise - they will knock the socks off your guests!!! The eggplant slices can be grilled early in the day and left at room temperature until ready to roll. As I write this, I realize that the entire dish can be prepared beforehand. BBQing would be fastest, just because you could grill many more slices at one time, oven broiling would be second and last (but what I did last night) would be to use a grill pan on top of the stove - I could only get three slices in at one time. You can serve them cold/cool or pop them in the oven for a few minutes before serving.

The salmon dish can also be assembled early and left to chill in the fridge until about 40 minutes before you plan on serving. Just pop it into the oven and when it's golden and bubbling and fragrant, it's ready for the ooohs and ahhhhs it deserves.

And because I feel terrible that I didn't get to post for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging last weekend, I figured I'd start this weekend early! So without further ado.....the eggplant dish is loaded with fresh mint (making this dish great for summer served with grilled meat, chicken or fish - or now, as a reminder that summer WILL be here again). The coulibiac has lots of dill, hiding under the crust with the mushrooms and salmon and on the side with the tangy yoghurt sauce.

Halloween is over, American Thanksgiving is soon (we've already had ours here in Canada) and Christmas, Chanukah and all the other winter parties are close at hand. It's time to celebrate, but without the stress.

I'll be doing lots of holiday dishes that are easy to prepare (and I just received a copy of The South Beach Diet Parties & Holiday Cookbook and already have a few earmarked to try)...so, as they say in the South...."come on back, y'all".

Hi Ruth,I don't know if you remember, but you tagged me for the things you must eat before you die, and Coulibiac of Salmon was on my list. I don't make it as often as I used to because it is time consuming, but it is such a great party dish-I usually use the one in the Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook.